ncompress: insecure tmp file handling may lead to file overwrite
Published Sep 20, 2005
5.0
MEDIUMCVSS 3.1
EPSS 0.37%
Description
ncompress 4.2.4 and earlier allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files using (1) zdiff or (2) zcmp, a different vulnerability than CVE-2004-0970.
Affected products
No data.
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
ncompress
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
ncompress
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
ncompress
Not affected
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | ncompress | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | ncompress | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | ncompress | Not affected | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Not vulnerable. This issue did not affect the ncompress packages as distributed with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3, or 4.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
No CISA SSVC assessment for this CVE yet.
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 2, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (9 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | 0.37% (0.00367) | 28.22th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 0.37% (0.00367) | 28.27th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 0.09% (0.00092) | 23.90th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.07th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.04% (0.00042) | 5.63th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 32.28th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Sep 10, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 30.63th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 28.61th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 0.95% (0.00950) | 13.46th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (8)
- http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=112689772732098&w=2 mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQ
- http://marc.info/?l=full-disclosure&m=112688098630314&w=2 mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC
- http://securityreason.com/securityalert/12 third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SREASON
- http://www.zataz.net/adviso/ncompress-09052005.txt x_refsource_MISCVendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2005-2991 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2023347 Issue Tracking
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-2991
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-2991
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=112689772732098&w=2 | mailing-listx_refsource_BUGTRAQ | |
| http://marc.info/?l=full-disclosure&m=112688098630314&w=2 | mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISC | |
| http://securityreason.com/securityalert/12 | third-party-advisoryx_refsource_SREASON | |
| http://www.zataz.net/adviso/ncompress-09052005.txt | x_refsource_MISCVendor Advisory | |
| https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2005-2991 | Vendor Advisory | |
| https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2023347 | Issue Tracking | |
| https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2005-2991 | ||
| https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2005-2991 |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.